


Fruit of The Poison Tree

by ChokolatteJedi



Series: x6325 [1]
Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Consequences, Episode Tag, Episode: s01e01 Pilot, Gen, Law Enforcement, Laws and Legalities, Neal Caffrey & Bryce Larkin Are Twins, Phone Calls & Telephones, Plothole Fill, Protective Bryce, Scolding, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-20
Updated: 2009-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28901157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: Peter gets a phone call from someone much higher up the food chain than himself, and they are not happy
Series: x6325 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119584
Kudos: 24





	Fruit of The Poison Tree

Two hours after he submitted his reports on the Dutchman case, Peter received a phone call. Before he could even say his own name, a voice barked, "Burke! How did you allow an unarmed man to enter a warehouse full of armed suspects?"

"Allow would be a strong word—"

"Oh, and what word would you prefer, Burke?" the voice asked icily.

Peter glanced at the extension display and saw x6325 — not one he recognized. Still the man sounded like he outranked Peter, and since Peter knew both Hughes's and Bancroft's extensions, this man could be even higher up. Peter immediately decided to cut out the flippancy.

"Well, Sir, in his own way, Neal thought he was helping us," Peter said quickly. "I was attempting to teach him about the restrictions on obtaining a warrant and suggested he look at a warrant law book. He read about exigent circumstances and decided all on his own to use that loophole to rush the process."

"I see," the man sounded no less disgruntled.

Peter hurried to explain, worried that Neal would be sent back to prison if he was considered too much of a loose canon. "I've impressed upon him that, while what he did was technically legal, it is not the way we will be doing things from now onwards."

"Do you think that Caffrey has a solid understanding of the law?"

"I think Neal would only be interested in learning the law so he could better break it," Peter replied before he could help himself.

The man did not sound happy at that. "And you think a single tome on warrant law will fix the problem?"

"I— I'm sorry, Sir?" Peter had no idea what that meant. Neal had read the book _before_ pulling his boneheaded stunt; Peter wasn't sure how it was supposed to keep him from pulling another one.

"Let me put it this way: how long did you study things like warrant law and evidence chains before you were allowed out into the world and trusted not to poison cases?" the man asked.

Peter finally saw where he was going with this. "Several months of courses, as you know, Sir. I understand what you're saying, and I'll ensure that Neal is given several more books, so that he knows how to follow procedure."

"Good, see to it."

The man hung up before Peter could assure him that he would.

oOo

After thinking about it for a good chunk of the afternoon, Peter put in a call to Quantico. Thankfully, his favorite professor was still around, and had time for a chat. Peter learned that he was not the first one interested in teaching his CI how to help more legally, though he was going further than most agents went. Still, Professor Howards was eager to help, and they quickly hashed out a syllabus and book list.

Howards also promised to gather up the relevant lecture notes and powerpoints and send them over in a week or so. They wouldn't arrive before Peter left, but that was fine. Neal could spend that time reading the books, and then he'd get the rest of the materials. Howards agreed to come up on the weekend in a few weeks — once Peter thought Neal was ready — and test him.

Feeling much better about that, Peter printed out the syllabus and book list. He'd swing by the library with Neal tonight, and then put him on desk duty to study for the next two days, plus Peter's vacation. Although this did mean he was going to have to allow Neal a laptop, damnit. Thank God he wasn't the hacker type!

oOo

Bryce smirked when he saw the addendum added to Neal's official file. He had passed the tests with flying colors, as Bryce knew he would: Neal had always been a fast learner. Bryce also felt better about Burke, and how much control he had over his brother's life. He had picked up the problem with a minimum of prompting, and immediately done something about it.

While Burke may be thinking that Bryce was concerned with the impact of poisoned evidence on FBI cases, he was only worried about how it would affect Neal. If Neal's methods were too unorthodox, his collars not triable, then they were likely to send him back to prison. And if Burke could be reasonable about the law, he would probably also be reasonable about Neal's safety.

No, altogether, this had gone better than expected, and now that Neal was "all lawed up" and allowed back in the field, Bryce was looking forward to seeing what he did next.

oOo

"So an unarmed, vest-less, Caffrey was shot at, and the only thing that saved his life was a priceless historical book that is now desecrated with a bullet hole," the voice said as soon as Peter picked up his phone.

Glancing at the extension display — x6325 again — Peter swallowed and thought fast.

"Well, Sir, you see…"


End file.
